Improvement in permutation-locks



GEORGEv E. ATwooD, on PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssrcNoEf'ro ALFRED A. OAT, 0E SAME PLACE. l e

Specification 'forming part of Letters Patent No. 63,133, datedy March 26, 1,867'. l l

of the construction and operation of the same,l

reference being had to. the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichy .Figure 1 is a planeviewv of the face of the said improved lock,k Fig. 2, a like view of the bottom or back plate of the-lock, together with the locking-bolts and the improved devices for operating and fixing them; Fig. 3, a like-View of the inner or rear side ofthe face-plate of the lock, together with a section parallel thereto, on the .dotted line o w of Fig. 4, of the plug and the improved devices for securing and releasing the same; Fig. 4, a central section, on the dotted line w y of Fig. l, of the said partsl as combined; and Fig. 5, a longitudinal central section of the separate hand-lever'usedin operating the locking-bolts after the plug ha been withdrawn from the case of the lock.

Like letters of reference indicate the same parts when in the different gures.

My invention relates particularly to a certain improved burglar-proof plug-lock invented by Alfred A. Oat, of the city of Philadelphia, and for` which Letters PatentNo. 56,790 were issued to him, dated the 31st day of July,

1866. .In that lock the ,plug7 and locking-- bolts l are secured and released by -successively operating a number of interlocking springslides, and withdrawing the locking-bolts against spring-pressure through chains and pulleys acted upon by means of a jointed removable hand-lever; but although the said lock is believed to b e perfectly burglar-proof, it. is very complicated and expensive of construction, and also somewhat tedious of operation.

lheobject of my invention is to remedy these objections without impairing the vpeculiar'burglarlproof feature of the said lock.

.It consists, substantially as hereinafter described, in providing for moving the slides which immediately secure and release the central plug or plugs of the said lock by means of a series of disks having'v concaverecessesiI-lf;

their edges, andbeing respectively connected lwith cams and outside indicating-disks'by'y means of shafts or. arbors in such` a manner that each shaft `or arbor, with its respective, jcam and recessed disks, caribe independentlyv and freely-rotated in either direction, right or left, by means of a small square pin applied to ya shallow square cavity in its center, or ,byf

ones thumb and nger applied for the pur- Icentral disk connected therewith, and havin-g concave recessesin its periphery adapted to iit the convex portions .of the peripheries. of

theseries of surrounding-disks, so that each f.

of the latter diskswill reciprocate with the former, and vice versa, as occasion may require in operating the lock, as will hereinafter be explained. y

in the drawings, AA A A are the slides, B, the central plug C .G G C, the cams; DI)

D D, thev series of recessed disks; E E E E,

the indicating-disksin the face-plate; F FF F,vtheir four shafts or arbors which connect.v together thev disks E and D and the cams C of each; G G G G, the four locking-bolts H, the

recessed central. disk, and I I I I the couplingv bars of the said bolts and vdisk. l 1 Y The central plug B is made cylindrical innform, so as to be easily turned around or rotated in its seat, hasa bearing-shoulder, bl,

and an annular recess or groove, b, neary ltsV lower end, for the reception lof the bolting;

ends al of the slides A,.and lits flushr or even with the outside surface of the face-plate J of the lock in' a hole or socket, K,'through the sides of which latter the bolts al slide into and out of the recess b2 of the plug B, allowing the latter to be freely rotated in its seat. The plugk extends a little beyond its said annular groove. (See Fig.- 4,) The slides A are secured to the under side of platey k', and each slide has an opening, a2, withinit for theV reception of itsy respective cam C, which is adjustably xed on 1 the shaft F. Near the rear or inner ends of 1 the shafts F their respective- -recessed disks D are adjustably fixed, and von the upper ends of said shafts the respective indicating-disksv. .v

- radial lines, which are numbered, and just outside of each disk E a small point mark, e2, is made in the face-plata'as shown in` Fig, l.,V The central disk H has four uniform and equi- 'distant con cave recesses in its periphery, which are Vadaptsed to receive and iit the convex'ponvl tions of the peripheries of thefse'ries of the four smaller disks D when the former is turned, so as to bring itsl `four recesses directly and eir-vr actly opposite, yto the latter. Q The disk.v H has afixed central cylindrical shaft yor arbor, h", the lower end of which serves asl oney of its j pivots, lin a socketin the rear or bottom plate` L of thelockfwhileV itsfupper end, which has a fdiametral groove,v4 113,-, enters the -socket K, i and serves "as itseopposite pivot, thus4 allowinga free rotaryvmotionto the said disk H i The'diskH is falso connected to thefour lock-l ing-bolts' Gr by means of the respective ybars l, which are pivotedor jointed to both,'the,said

bars being eachfof j such a 'length between their f pivots aswill rcause, the vbolts Gr to bev moved simultaneously out andin properly for closing and opening the lock byrotatingl the disk Y H accordingly.

All the parts' :are to beinadevof steel;

moving surfaces'in contact polishedand vfitted,

together accurately, and so `as to. ,be moved without causin g any noise or jarring whatever. The exterior plates, crease-ofthe lock, the. disks E, and theremovable` plug B, areintendedto be -made` of steelfhardened thoroughly, or of anyother'undrillable metal. l Y Qperation: The differenti parts being coli,-l structed and arranged .together substantially as `described,an'd shown in the. drawings,and thefour bolts G pushd'outaand xed in the positions represented in Figgi, it will be seen thatv the said l )olts .Gr fcannotbe withdrawn. into the'case untilfthe,eentraldisk H is're-` leased from the fourinterlocking `disks D,`thes convex portions of .which latter beingin the curved recesses of the former (see Fig.y 2;) non can 'the operating lhand-lever, Fig. .5, be inserted for the purpose of turning around the said disk H until the plug VBbe withdrawn; and that the withdrawal of the said plug can` notbe effected until it has been released from the ends al'of the slides Arby rotating the four'. indicating-disks: E to `certain positions, and consequently with'them the four cams C, 'which govern the `said slides.,Y But the relative posi-f tions of the camsand` slides cannot be seen, nor can they'be' felt by themost delicatesensel of touch, becauseeach ofthe disks E and the j plug-B can berotated freely without causing the least noise or jarring; inshort, the lock is closed,fand cannot be unlocked without first arrangingthe four indicating-disks E so that some previously selected one of the numbers or radial lines on each of the said disks is brought directly opposite to its respective fixed point ne?` in the face-plateV 2l, `and thus causing the cams C to lwithdraw the ends al of the slides A-from the annularV groove b2 of the plug B, and thus releasing the latter and permitting it to be 'readily .withdrawn by means f the usualv magnet provided for the purpose, as heretofore. The ne-Xt thing to be done, after withdrawing the plug, is tointroduce the hand- 'lever, Fig. 5,'so that its tongue m will enter thefgroove h2, for the purpose of thereby ro tatin g the disk H, and thus withdrawing the"` locking-bolts G; but the relative adjustments ofthe camsGand disks D upon the respective? shafts ,F are such that 'when the ends al. ofthe slides `A. are withdrawn by the cams @from v the groove b2 in the plugB, .the convex parts` of the perimeters of the disks D will be in the.,

curvedV recesses of the central, disk H, and therefore the latter cannotbe rotated until the said disks'D havetheir recessed edges again, brought back directly opposite to the saidreces'ses inthe central disk H; and these required positions` canonly be known by a cer tai'nn'umber, appropriate tothe purpose,vo11, each of .the ydisks E being brought directly opposite to, its respectivefixedpoint e2 in they; face-plated. The disks E having been rotated accordingly, the, fdisk H can then4 be freely and easily .rotated, and consequently the 'Our bolts G Withdrawn thereby, and thus t the lock opened, the hand-lever, Fig.l 5, being, y

of course, retained bythe ends al. of thel four slides "A, which have been thus moved into the annular vgroove opv thereof by rotating the` diskH. In relooking or closing the lock, the l bolts G are, pushed, out by. rotating the disk i vH toV its first position, and theI -hand-lever released by again .withdrawing the ends a* of l the slides/A, byrotating the indicating-disks Eso as to` bring the respective :appropriate-if numbers thereon to correspond radially with I the points c2 on the face-plate J, then reinsert-- i ling the plug B, and nallyadvancing the ends 7 j a! 'j of fthed slides A, either wholly or partially,y intits groove b2 by rotating the disks E, withl out'any'regard to the fixed points '62.

e g It :will be seen that it will be almostimposj sible for a burglar,Y or any one, .to openl this., Llock without'iirst acquiring aj knowledge of..

'theitwo sets of selected numbers. which may l have been adopted for the purpose,1on the disks E, in the original adjustments of the saidi disks or ca mson their` respective shafts;l and as these adjustments can be readily va fried so as to requirea change of the two sets of vnumbers, .a` discovery of 1 the; said` sets of numbersby anyone willvberendered useless..

to him by simply changing the.- adjustments of eitherthe'disksll, the cams C, or disksl).v .I t will now beseen that the specified objectionable features of Mr., Oats lock are remediedv .f

. by this invention Without impai'ri'ng its peculiar burglar-proof feature.

Having thus fully described my improvement, What I claim as new therein of my in- 4:. Moving the slides A by means of 'the respective cams O, substantially-in the manner described.

5. Operating the inclosed or invisible disks D and cams G by means of the exposed or visible indicating-disks E, or their equivalents, substantially in the manner described.

6. The employment of the combination consisting of the recessed disk H with the four recessed disks D, Wherebythey reciprocate with each other in the manner and for the' purposes described.

GEO. B. ATWOOD.

Witnesses: i I

ROBERT HUTcHINsoN, W. R. SCOTT. 

